Finally, the day has come. It’s odd, but for me, it felt a bit like I was cheating: not seeing any LOST for nearly 8 months had truely led me to believe – in a shrew, psychological post-traumatic stress disorder kind of way – that “Through the Looking Glass”, the wonderful Season 3 finale, was the end of the series. And, in many ways, it could have been. The first chapter of the series was complete, the only thing that was left now… was The Beginning of the End. On to the review, which will as always be covered with spoilers.
The Episode…
Whoa. Who could honestly not be completely psyched after this episode? We got more flashforwards, we got an exciting new plot development, we got just about everything we wanted from a new LOST episode. I am honestly thrilled to see where this goes. We got what we have been waiting for for eight months: some new insight in the whole flashforward business. A message of mystery: apparently, Hurley was one of the “Oceanic Six”. Six people made it off the island, then. Who else, other than Kate, Jack and Hurley?
Another message of mystery, brought by the last person I’d expect to ever see again: Charlie. “They need you, Hurley”. What has happened prior to Hurley’s return to civilization? Why is Jack visiting Hurley? “Are you going to tell?” …Something’s rotten in those flashforwards, something stinks, and I can’t wait to find out what.
Meanwhile, on the island, we finally got the plot twist I had been waiting for for ages: a group break-up between Locke and Jack. And, honestly, I might be a Locke fan, but I have no clue who I would follow. Jack seems to have started his descent into darkness (a descent which will not stop until he is ready to jump off the flashforward bridge, I think), he keeps on talking about killing people (Ben and Locke, to be precise) and he twitches. A lot. He doesn’t seem to be a hero anymore, he’s slowly turning into a dictator. Locke, on the other hand, whose faith I have always admired, seems to have really gone of his rocker, jumped the shark, gone absolutely stinking mad. Neither of them seems to be the valid option. I’d be torn between Hurley (who I’d follow until the end of the world, I think) or Desmond (who is also a trustworthy person) – because they went seperate ways. Why did Desmond go with Jack? Doesn’t he believe Charlie?
Freaky things happened in this episode – I didn’t really expect this. I expected a very down-to-earth showing of the new plot elements, and that would be it. In that way, I have learned a lot – but also gained dozens of questions. Why did Charlie appear to Hurley? Why was he “dead, but also here”? Who is the freaky black guy who goes by the name of Matthew Abaddon? He’s a guest star, so he should be back for more episodes. Scary, scary person . I mean, look at those eyes! Furthermore, what’s up with Hurley’s visit to Jacob’s cabin? Or: Jacob’s visit to Hurley? We noticed the ash in “The Man Behind the Curtain” and all supposed Jacob was Ben’s prisoner, but this appears to be not exactly true, as Jacob’s cabin apparently fl oats around the island constantly. Maybe he can move the cabin but not himself? Also: there were two people in this cabin. And one of them… was Jack’s father. What?!
The Questions…
You might remember me creating a prediction post for LOST’s season 4. Well… not much has happened. We saw Jacob (question 5)… or something that resembles Jacob. Or whatever. Jacob might be the “it” that wants the Oceanic 6 to return. It might have summoned Charlie. We also heard something about Rousseau (question 9) in the form of “You’re not her father”. But… that doesn’t answer anything. A poor start for my ten questions everyone wanted to know the answer to!
In all…
In all, this episode had great pace: loads of questions, great plot development, nice dialogue… I have got a feeling that season 4 will be even better than season 3 – and I really hope I’m right. LOST could have a great influence on serialized television drama in terms of setting an end date to your story and planning ahead in a way that Lord of the Rings had that influence on serialized movies. Let’s see how it develops.
“I don’t think we did the right thing, Jack. I think it wants us to come back.”
